Shotshell



July 8, 1958 H. DUNN sHoTsHELL Filed Aug. 6. 195e llllM/llllllll,

ffl

N za Z Z yllullllll'l'llll INVENToR.

HUGH DUNN.

' y lopesurrounding tlieshot column.

Y 1 f'. of a shotshell having a novel topvwad.

l f sHoTsHELL i separate the plastic collar from the shell'and Ycams themargin of the collar inwardly so as to overlay theshot Y column and thestep of bendingv the top of the shotshe1lin i Orange,1Conn., Vassignorto Olin Mathieson v Chmic'alCoporation, NewHav'en, Conn., a corporaftion of Virginia v p l f Application August 6,' 19516, sgrial No.602,285

v *or cloth impregnatedV with plastic rfor separating the shot'm columnfrom the interior'of'the metallic's'hell (see cop'ending application S.rN. 610,321 filed September 1.7,

La: l V` 1956: by "Millerfet all); One lmethod of conveniently flo ` iv'.Fig. VVlis an elevation lview, partially in section, Yof an n Y'aluminum shot'shell embodyinff-thepresent invention and arranging theenvelope' isto insert a-collar"or hollow'v i vcylinder of ,plasticvmaterial immediately ynext Vto the in-V terior wall' of the? shotshell.f The shotcharge is then 4" y, "loaded into the shell upto'apredetermined height sothat the resilient'material. extends above theshot l' a margin of column.

`It is sometimes desirableY to utilize this upwardly-ferr-V tendingr'narginof resilient material to complete'the enve- 'Inl-some cases themetallic shell is' crimped to forman f f gouter closure and' in othersit is desirable to utilize atop Y ',wad'betw'een the'resilient materialand the crimped shell.V

The present 'inVention'has to do withfthat `class'of meitallicfshellswherein a top'wady is included thus making 'itfunn'ecessary to fullycrimp v'the top Vof the ymetallicV 'shell a's will beV more apparenthereinafter. "-,Sometir'ne's I' Y this top wad may be frangibleV andthus in need of prov tection. Y

l In'th'e mass production'of shotshells utilizing the abovey notedlinerorpartition of resilient material Vitis highly 'important to v'design an,envelope which may be readilyv closed.r Furthermore, the stepspracticed in assembling the elements' of the shotshelhmustlendthemselves to 'high-speedmachinery. I 'v Y Y Accordingly, itisa'particular'object of the present inv Yvention to provide anew andimproved metallic shotshell.

.Anptherfobject of thepresent invention is to provide a rmet/hodjforaccomplishing agclosure fora metallic shot ,1

shell. 'i p -Another object of the present invention is the f y kA stillfurther object of'the lpresent invention is to l Vprovide katmethod ofutilizing 'the top wad for accomplishying the closure of a plasticenvelopefaroundthe shot "column` Y l. Y Another object of the presentinvention is to providea y rv.new and improved'top wad.

wardlyfsofas to overlay"theshotlolumn,providing' a Vtop, v4wadl formedvwith' a skirt' portion,` advancing the provisionv -upper part of thecollar starting inwardly f of the camming'action of the wad;

primer assembly, a powder charge, an over-powder wad,A

conventional filler wad yor wads disposed over the powder f i "y, pcharge, ashot column positioned immediately above the lfiller wads,"a'plastic collar encircling therrshot column and havinga Vmarginalportion overlaying saidcollim'n so as to substantially enclosetheltopfof the "columriJ-an'd Y Ya top. wad positioned immediatelyabovethe enclosed"y column, said shotshell terminating'inaninwardly'ext'end` ing arcuatec'rown.

"A 'complete understanding of the ,-inethod" and* the i* Yarticleof*thepresentinvention may bev obtained from the following detaileddescription of a YshotshellV illustrating a specific embodiment thereofvwhen read in conjunction with thefappended drawings in which;

yshowinga step in the rnet/hod'of accomplishing the shell closure;

Fig 2 is avvie'wv of the top portion of'Fig; l showing Y Y thel initialContactl of the Vtop wad with the collar'p'withy y as a result Fig. 13is-a viewsimilar to Fig. 2 showing thetop wad in the final position withthe marginal portion of the collar completely folded Vuponthe shotcolumn;

'-Figy 'llish'owls the step of forming the crownon'theshell and theconguration'of the. shotshell after it'hasjbeen K curved inwardly toretaintheftop wad; and, v e

Y Fig. 5 isa Asectional view.of1the frangible'wadofpthe Y presentinvention `showingto"advantage `the'iarnge or f skirt portionformed-along the top A"andbottomie'd'ges V:'thereofg/ v, 1 J f i. if; iY` lReferring now to loaded Awith wllkno'wn (elements s'uch as"Vajpowder charge r15, over-powder wad lfllerfwads 172,5 andashotcolumnlSL" Y .Y i

ribbon'of material havinga butte'd or lapped joint.V

Frequently it is desirable to utilize'a frangible top wad f in ashotgunl shellso that upon tiring the shell, the shot Q v .column instriking the wad breaks' the wadintoaV` great f i Y* number of lsmallpieces thus` providing substantially no@ Y interference tothe advance ofthe shot toward the target. Y From 'time' to time, prior to ythe presentinvention,4 the Y trangible wadV has broken f prematurely duringhandlingf by contact ofthe shot columntlie'rewith; In Yorder toV`V` overcomethis diculty, it was proposedlto" extend-the `Y plastic'collar 19 asuicientfdistance above'theffshot Y Ycolumn to provide a marginlwhichmaybeputili'zpedrin'a f' ftopwa'd Vintotlie shell so Vthatthelskirtportiontendsto` novel manner to cushion the frangiblewad fromtheishot. Y

K Accordingly, it was `proposed that aY fra'ngiblewadVV such asindicated generally bythe referenceziiumeral 2L i be formed with aVskirtlp'rtion A22d`eiinir1g1a:Knifeledg Y which is utilized inlcooperation withv the ilatsides '23fof` 76 (t, the wad to caman'expos'erd margin 24 of thefpla'stiocollar n' *n Y inwardly to.overlayk the shot column. It is'V to benoted thatfthe wadlZrl `neednotfnec'essai-ilyl be ofthe firarlg'ilzplel` .2,842,1157iV n *PatentedYthe'drawing and in particular tof Fig. 1,7'there is 'shown an aluminumshellfcasingindicated ygenerally'by'the'reference numeral 10 Yhavingasidewall portion 11,a'fbase12, anda mouth 13. V' 1`heshell isvDisposed-between theshot c 'olum'nand the'nterior'of v `the .sh'e'llsideWall iis .a plasticfcollrl. l`hkisr'collar'j'V .may ibeformed'.ofspolyethylene, Fpolyv'inyl'choideeor other suitable resilientplastic materialandmaylibeintroduced intheform of a hollow cylindricalsleeve orV a type for purposes of practicing the steps necessary to foldthe margin 24 upon the shot column. Furthermore, it is to be noted thatthe wad is formed with a skirt on either side thereof. This is forconvenience so that either side of the wad may be presented to theinterior of the ,shell in assembling the elements of the shell. i

Referring now to F ig. 2, the wad 21 is shown suihciently advanced intothe shell so that the skirt portion or knife edge 22 thereof has begunto separate the top portion 26 of the margin 24 turning it inwardlyalong the at or cam side 23 of the wad. 1t is, ofcourse, understood thatthe wad 21 may be advanced into the shell by any suitable means such asmanually by utilizing an arbor press or by use of well-known automaticmachinery.

Frequently it is desirable to slit the collar vertically (Fig. l)at aplurality of spaced points, at least in the region of the margin 24 tofacilitate turning the margin inwardly and to minimize or reducebuckling or wrinkling. The slits need not be disposed vertically but mayassume an acute angle With respect to the longitudinal axis of theshell. It is entirely within the contemplation of the invention,however, to fold the margin inwardly without slitting.

Fig. 3 shows the wad after having been seated completely with the margin24, fully cammed inwardly and overlaying the shot column. It is to beunderstood that the edges of folded margin 24 may be butted or lappeddepending upon the distance the upright margin (Fig. 1) projects abovethe shot column.

Fig. 4 shows the finishing step wherein a forming tool 27 having anarcuate or hemispherical recess 28 formed therein is lowered intocontact with the top of the shell. The tool is advanced against-theshell with the result that the top of the shell is formed with aninwardly turned arcuate rim or crown 29. The tool is mounted forreciprocation by means not shown and the stroke may be Vadjusted toprovide any desired degree of closure or arcuate configuration. Theshell is generally finished with a central opening 31 as shown in Fig.4. The primary function of the rim 29 is to protect the wad 21 and toretain it in position.

VIt is entirely within the purview of the present invention tomanufacture the wad 21 from any suitable wad material.

It is to be further understood that the present invention need not belimited to metallic shotshells but may find use wherever it is desirableto provide a protective collar or hollow cylinder such as the cylinder24 and to fold the marginal portions of the collar upon the shot column.A preferred material from which one may fabricate the collar 24'ispolyethylene; but for purposes of practicing the present invention, itis not necessary to so limit the material for paper, rubber, or otherresilient material is also satisfactory.

It is anticipated that the method of the present invention and thearticle thereof may be practiced and produced respectively in a varietyof forms without departing from the spirit and the scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. In a shotshell having a conventional shot column, the method ofenclosing the shot column in an envelope comprising the steps ofproviding an annular collar of resilient material, inserting the collarbetween the shot column and the interior of the shell, introducing acolumn of shot into the shell to a definite height so that a margin ofthe collar projects above the shot column, providing a top wad having acam surface formed on one side thereof and terminating in a circularknife edge and advancing the wad into the shell so that the knife edgeengages and separates the margin of the collar from the interior of theshell while the cam surface folds the margin over the top of the shotcolumn.

2. In a shotshell having a conventional shot column, the method ofenclosing the shot column in an envelope comprising the steps ofproviding an annular collar of resilient material, inserting the collarbetween the shot vcolumn and the interior of the shell, arranging saidcollar so that a margin thereof projects above the shot column, slittingthe margin, providing a top wad having cam surface, formed on at leastone side thereof and terminating ,in a circular knife edge 4advancingthe wad into the .shell so that the knife edge engages and separates theslit margin of the collar from the interior of the shell and the camsurface folds the slit margin over the top of the shot column.

3. In a metallic shotshell having conventional shot column. the methodof enclosing the shell comprising the steps of providing an annularcollar of resilient material between the shot column and the interior ofthe shell, arranging said collar so that a margin thereof projects abovethe shot column, providing a top wad having a cam surface formed on oneside thereof and terminating in a circular knife edge advancing the wadinto the shell so that the knife edge engages and separates the marginof the collar from the interior of the shell and the cam surface foldslthe margin from the top of the shot c'olumn and curving the end of theshell adjacent the top wad inwardly to hold the wad in place.

France Oct. 17, 1955

